Page 49 of Wild Wolf

The TV in the living room echoed down the foyer. James and Emily argued about what to watch.

"We just have a few quick follow-up questions,” I said.

Carolyn squirmed, and her mouth grew dry. “I was just about to run some errands.”

I flashed a disarming smile. “It won’t take long.”

The kids kept fighting, voices growing louder.

Carolyn shouted down the foyer, exasperated. “James, Emily… If you can't agree on what to watch, I'll turn the TV off, and that’s the end of your privileges.”

They settled slightly.

“Sounds like you’ve got your hands full,” I said.

“They’re really good kids. But they do what siblings do.”

“They’re stressed. They’ve been through a lot. Are you taking care of them alone?” I asked, fishing.

“For now. My husband is out of town on business.”

"It's a good thing you’re around to take care of them."

“Can you believe Grant did such a horrible thing? I guess it’s really not shocking, considering how abusive he always was.”

“Passionate relationships can often turn violent. Tell me about your falling out with Hannah.”

She froze, and her face went long.

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Carolyn shook her head, unsettled. "What do you mean? We didn’t have a falling out.”

"You’re contesting the will,” I said. “Doesn't sound like things were amicable.”

"I withdrew my petition when Hannah assured me that she would do the right thing. She promised to divide the assets fairly, as my mother had originally intended.”

"You filed a new petition.”

She looked stunned. "Well, of course. Hannah is deceased. I had to file a new petition if I wanted to get what was coming to me. The kids are too young to understand. As you can imagine, it's a legal quagmire right now. Hannah’s death is the worst thing that could have happened.”

"I'm sure it's a challenging time. You’ve got a lot on your plate right now."

Carolyn hugged her belly. "In six weeks, I’m really going tohave my hands full. I don’t know how I’m going to manage it all.”

"I'm sure you'll rise to the challenge," I said. “Can you tell me where you were at the time of your sister’s murder? I’m just trying to put all the pieces together.”

Her face tightened. "I was here at the apartment.”

"You didn't go out anywhere that night? No trips to the store?”

"I went straight over to Hannah's house when James called.”

"See, that’s interesting because, at the time of the murder, your phone was off the grid. And when it did come back on the grid, it was heading away from Stingray Bay. You turned around when James called and went back to Hannah's house.”

Carolyn looked like she'd seen a ghost. She tried to recover. “Oh, yeah. My phone had died, and I had gone to the store to grab a bottle of wine. I plugged it into the car charger, and thank God I did. I was heading back to my apartment when James called. I could have missed his call. That would have been terrible.” She paused, and her worried eyes flicked between the two of us. "Is there some reason you're looking into my phone records?"

"Standard procedure."